Sky Talk

Some flights headed for DFW Tuesday morning diverted to Love Field

Delays at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport are possible as the Federal Aviation Adminstration continues to deal with air traffic controller furloughs.

An agency spokesman said nine flights were diverted to Dallas Love Field on Tuesday morning due to "weather and staffing challenges."

"The cold front that moved through this morning brought with it a change in wind direction, as well as mist and rain," said FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford. "The ceilings at DFW are beginning to improve and we're working to return the diverted flights as soon as possible."

The FAA said controllers at its regional TRACON centers, including the one in Fort Worth, will continue to space planes farther apart to manage the air traffic with its current staff which could lead to delays at DFW, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

-Andrea Ahles

DFW and Love Field not among airports with serious delays, FAA says

The Federal Aviation Administration does not expect Dallas/Fort Worth Airport or Dallas Love Field to experience serious delays on a daily basis, an agency spokesman said on Monday.

"Depending on the time of day, the weather and traffic conditions at other airports, it's possible that delays still could affect flight schedules," said FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford in an e-mail statement on Monday, "In general, 10 percent of controllers at any facility are on furlough each day."

The FAA has implemented furloughs of its air traffic controllers as part of the budget cuts related to the federal government's sequestration process.

The agency said there were about 400 delays on Sunday that were attributable to the furloughs.

"The FAA is experiencing staffing challenges at New York Center and TRACON, Fort Worth Center, Jacksonville Center and Los Angeles Center," the FAA said in a statement. "Controllers will space planes farther apart so they can manage traffic with current staff, which will lead to delays at airports including New York's La Guardia Airport."

-Andrea Ahles

American warns travelers of possible delays because of FAA budget cuts

On Saturday, American Airlines warned its passengers that flights may be delayed, starting this week as the Federal Aviation Administration begins furloughing air traffic controllers.

American specifically mentions New York's JFK, Newark, Chicago O'Hare, Fort Lauderdale and San Francisco airports where budget cuts and ground delay programs could hurt the carrier's operations.

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, American's headquarter hub, is not mentioned as one of the airports that could be hurt by federal government budget sequestration cuts.

Here's the carrier's statement:

As a result of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sequestration budget cuts that took effect on March 1, American Airlines and American Eagle are urging customers to check their flight status on AA.com before departing for the airport tomorrow, Sunday, April 21. Unfortunately, the FAA has not yet provided specific details to the airlines, making it difficult to communicate exactly how customers will be affected. However, we will make every effort to communicate with our customers as information becomes available.

Airports in the American network that will most likely be affected tomorrow by the sequestration cuts and ground delay programs implemented by the FAA are New York Kennedy (JFK), Newark (EWR), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and San Francisco (SFO). Additionally, other airports in the American network that could be potentially affected by FAA's actions are New York La Guardia (LGA), Philadelphia (PHL), Los Angeles (LAX) and San Diego (SAN). In addition to ground delay programs, the FAA could also implement airspace flow programs that could affect any flight.

-Andrea Ahles

American allows passengers in Boston to change reservations with no fees

American Airlines is allowing passengers traveling to or from Boston's Logan Airport today to change their ticket reservations and rebook flights without penalty.

Here is the message issued by American on Friday:

Because of today’s events in Boston, we have implemented a travel change policy for customers traveling to or from Logan International Airport today. Customers ticketed to travel to or from BOS today are able to rebook flights without penalty for travel Saturday or Sunday. To change their travel plans, customers may call American Airlines Reservations at 1-800-433-7300.

-Andrea Ahles

 

Customers slightly less satisified with online travel sites in 2012

Online shoppers are a little less satisfied with travel websites in 2012, according to a new survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

The online travel industry's customer satisfaction score dropped 2 points to 76 out of 100 in the ACSI survey released on Tuesday. Fort Worth-based Travelocity lost 4 points down to 75 points.

However, the online travel space is highly competitive with all of the major sites separated by only 2 points in 2012.

"It’s not that they made their sites worst, they’ve just all leveled off against each other," said Larry Freed, chief executive of ForeSee, which conducted the survey.

Freed said the online travel scores are good but not great when compared to other e-commerce sites. Overall, e-commerce sites score an average of 81.1 points.

	Customer Satisfaction
	2011	2012
Online Travel Aggregate	78	76
Expedia	77	76
Orbitz	76	76
All Others	79	76
Travelocity	79	75
Priceline	76	74

-Andrea Ahles

Merger expected to improve choice for American customers on both coasts

In recent years, Brett Snyder has lamented the absence of American Airlines in Long Beach, Calif.

At one time, the Southern California native could fly from Long Beach to DFW Airport and head almost anywhere in the world. Later, he could come home to his local airport -- a hop, skip and a jump from his beach town home. But then American ended its flights into Long Beach, leaving Snyder with fewer options.

That's why Snyder, like hundreds of other passengers around the country, may have reason to cheer for a merger of American Airlines and US Airways.

The combination is likely to open up dozens of east and west coast destinations, such as Long Beach and Burbank, which are served now by US Airways but not by American, analysts say.

And more passengers would likely connect through Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, headed to other U.S. destinations or across the oceans to international cities.

"People are going to get to go to more places,'' said Snyder, who runs the CrankyFlier.com blog. "There should be more destinations within the American network for sure."

With close to 100,000 employees, 1,500 aircraft and $38.7 billion in revenue combined, a marriage of American and US Airways would once again make Fort Worth home to the world's largest airline. American, once the No. 1 carrier, was passed up when United Airlines merged with Continental and Delta Air Lines merged with Northwest.

Some downsides for travelers may emerge, analysts said. Higher fares could result in some markets, though today's inflation-adjusted domestic fares are a lot lower than they were in 2000, said George Hobica, president of Airfarewatchdog.Since competition drives cheaper airline prices, taking one competitor out of the mix could drive up fares, agreed Rick Seaney, CEO and co-founder of Dallas-based FareCompare.

"The only good news is that if airlines get too frisky with higher prices, consumers will let them know quickly by cutting back on air travel," Seaney said.The priciest fares will occur at "fortress hubs," including Houston and Charlotte, analysts said. And plan to see fare jumps on routes where American and US Airways have overlapping nonstop service: such as Philadelphia to DFW or Miami, Charlotte to Miami and DFW, and Phoenix to Miami.

To read the full story that appeared in Thursday's Star-Telegram, click here.

-Yamil Berard

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/02/13/4619832/merger-expected-to-improve-choice.html#storylink=cpy

 

More Texans are traveling for Thanksgiving, AAA says

Emma Rivera of Everman, like millions of Texans, is getting out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Rivera, who was taking a flight to Albuquerque to visit relatives, said she chose to travel on Monday because she got a better price on her airfare.

"I went by when it was cheaper, and it was cheaper to fly today," Rivera said as she checked in at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on Monday afternoon.

Close to 3.3 million Texans will travel for Thanksgiving, according to AAA Texas, an increase of 1.6 percent over last year. The automotive club forecasts that about 3 million will travel by car, while about 206,000 will catch an airplane. An additional 77,000 will travel by train, bus or cruise ship.

On average, Texas travelers will travel about 714 miles round-trip and expect to spend an average of $802.

"Our travel forecast shows the resiliency of Texans to economize their budgets so they can travel to be with one another for Thanksgiving," said Rhonda Wilson, AAA Texas vice president of operations.

Nationally, AAA projects 43.6 million Americans will travel for Thanksgiving, up 0.7 percent. It is the fourth consecutive increase in holiday travelers since 2008.

The average price of gas will be $3.25 to $3.40 a gallon, a range that's similar to last year's average of $3.32. Texans should continue to get a break on the road, as the state has seen gas prices 25 cents a gallon lower than the national average.

DFW Airport said it expects 100,000 more travelers to pass through its terminals during its 11-day Thanksgiving travel period, an increase of 3.6 percent. The busiest travel days will be the Sunday and Monday after Thanksgiving, with about 184,000 travelers.

The airport recently opened a new passenger pickup waiting area in Terminal E to help with congestion as it starts renovating the terminal. It also plans to open 1,100 covered parking spaces in its Express North Parking lot on Thanksgiving day.

With airlines cutting capacity this past year, travelers are paying higher fares since there are fewer flights, Travelocity senior editor Courtney Scott said.

"People are getting out there and going to visit family and friends," Scott said. "But with the high demand and lower supply of seats flying this holiday, that really is a perfect storm for the higher prices that we're seeing."

Airfares are up about 9 percent nationally, with an average of $386, Scott said. At DFW, the average is about $360, up 6 percent. Travelers who can be flexible with their travel dates are likelier to get a cheaper fare, she said.

For 15-year-old Amber Bailey, who flew into DFW from Columbus, Ohio, to visit her dad for Thanksgiving, flying an off-peak day has an extra benefit.

"I'm missing the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of school," Bailey said. She also isn't leaving until Nov. 28, giving her more time to spend with her new baby sister, she said.

-Andrea Ahles

Airlines cancel over 1,000 flights on Wednesday as nor'easter storm hits East Coast

As another storm heads towards the East Coast, particularly New York and New Jersey, airlines have cancelled over 1,000 flights on Wednesday.

According to FlightStats.com, there have been 1,039 flights canceled in the U.S. with 521 flights delayed as of 9:30 a.m. Newark airport had the most cancelled flights with 216 arrivals and 204 departures cancelled. LaGuardia and JFK airports in New York also have over two hundred flights cancelled.

American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said the airline, along with its regional carrier American Eagle, have cancelled 365 flights due to the storm.

The carrier is suspending its operations at Philadelphia airport around noon EST and at all New York-area airports by 3 p.m. EST. It expects to restart operations on Thursday morning.

-Andrea Ahles

Hurricane Sandy flight update: 19,000 flights canceled since Sunday

Over 19,217 flights have been canceled in North America due to Hurricane Sandy, according to FlightStats.com, a website that tracks flights.

On Wednesday, 2,820 flights were canceled and only 238 flights are canceled for Thursday, FlightStats.com said.

American Airlines resumed operations at all of its airports impacted by Hurricane Sandy except Newark and New York LaGuardia airports. It planned to resume limited operations at New York's JFK airport late Wednesday. From Sunday to Thursday, American and its regional carrier American Eagle canceled 2,088 flights due to the storm's impact.

Southwest Airlines said it is operating across most of the East Coast by midday on Wednesday. However, it does not have any plans to operate flights from either New York LaGuardia's airport or Newark airport in New Jersey on Wednesday. Southwest and its subsidiary AirTran Airways have not canceled anymore flights since its flight operations update on Tuesday night.

-Andrea Ahles

Flight cancellations over 17,000 due to Hurricane Sandy

For those who are keeping track of how many flights have been cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy, we're now up to 17,062 since Saturday.

According to Flightstats.com, a website that tracks flights, carriers have cancelled 6,444 flights today in North America and another 1,021 flights are cancelled for Wednesday.

Here's a look at flight cancellations by day:

Wednesday, Oct. 31	1,021
Tuesday, Oct. 30	6,444
Monday, Oct. 29	7,944
Sunday, Oct. 28	1,501
Saturday, Oct. 27	152

-Andrea Ahles